Executive Board Committees

Executive Board committees are appointed each year by the incoming President. The term of service is one year.

Finance and Budget Committee (F&B)

There are two aspects of AALL financial planning. 1) There is the financial plan itself, which is the "big picture" view of the association goals. It provides the underlying principles for AALL financial planning. This is reviewed periodically. 2) There also are the specific financial policies which have been approved by the Board and are revised regularly as needed. This typically is addressed following Spring Executive Board meetings. This committee deals with both aspects of AALL financial planning.

The role of this committee is defined in the AALL Financial Policies document, approved March 11, 1995 and last revised July 10, 1998. The Committee is charged to:

Review and modify the proposed annual budget before presentation to the Executive Board.

Assist the Treasurer as needed.

Review current financial policies and trend data and propose revisions and additions for the Executive Board's consideration

Review the results of the annual audit, meet with the auditor annually, evaluate the auditor relationship at least once every five years and recommend to the Executive Board the appointment of an auditor

Oversee all Association funds.

Review budget assumptions and justifications, ensure the accuracy of all budget estimates, and bring a budget recommendation to the Executive Board at its July meeting. It may also make recommendations to the Board that it modify the budget at any time (subject to approval of 8 of the 11 Board members).

Membership on the Committee: The Finance & Budget Committee is a Board committee chaired by the Treasurer. The committee also includes two Board members who shall have served at least one full year on the Board, the President and Vice-President/President-Elect. The board members are appointed for a two-year term during their second year on the Board. The staff liaison is officially the Executive Director, but at the discretion of the Executive Director, both the Executive Director and Director of Finance and Administration have been serving as liaisons to the Finance & Budget Committee.

The Committee meets in Chicago each year usually in January for 1 1/2 days. It follows by at least a month the meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee. The agenda is set by the Treasurer in consultation with the Executive Director and Director of Finance and Administration.

Based on the discussions at the Finance & Budget Committee meeting in January, the Director of Finance & Administration and Executive Director prepare recommended budget guidelines for the Board's approval at the Spring Executive Board meeting.

At the Spring Executive Board meeting, the Finance & Budget Committee recommendations are approved after presentation and discussion.

The Executive Director and Director of Finance & Budget prepare a draft budget consistent with the approved guidelines.

The Finance & Budget Committee meets via conference call approximately one month prior to the July Board meeting to discuss the preliminary budget. Changes are made, and the committee members review the revised draft two weeks later. After revisions are incorporated, the proposed budget is included with the first mailing of board documents.

Consideration and approval of the proposed budget is a major part of the agenda at the first session of the July Executive Board meeting.

Executive Committee [created by the Executive Board in 2005]

The role of this committee is to be a small group with the authority to make decisions on behalf of the Executive Board on time-critical administrative and policy matters that arise between Board meetings. It is not intended to diminish the authority or decision-making power of the full Executive Board. The Executive Committee can also be used by the President as a sounding board, in instances where the President might otherwise have to make a quick decision on his/her own. The types of items to be addressed by the Executive Committee include spending Association funds on a special project, approving a large expenditure by a committee, or approving funds for the WAO to contribute to a fast track advocacy initiative.

Membership of this committee will consist of the current President, Vice-President/President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Past President. The Executive Director is an ex-officio member. A majority of the members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Meetings of the Executive Committee may be called by the President or by any two Executive Committee members. The Executive Committee shall keep minutes of its meetings and shall report all actions taken by it immediately to the AALL-EB discussion list and to the Executive Board at the first meeting of the Board following the taking of such action.

The role of the Executive Board Strategic Directions Committee is to monitor AALL's overall progress on its Strategic Directions and insure that the Executive Board and AALL entities are carrying out appropriate actions to implement the Strategic Directions.

Membership of the committee: The committee shall be chaired by an officer or member of the Executive Board. The committee shall include either the President for the Vice-president, plus two(2) or three (3) other members. The Executive Director shall serve as the Staff Liaison. Members shall serve a 1-year term by may be re-appointed.

The Strategic Directions Committee shall monitor AALL's overall progress on its Strategic Directions, and annually prepare two Executive Board Action Plans. The first, a plan for the upcoming year, should be submitted for approval at the Summer Executive Board meeting, and the second, a report on progress and recommendations for the following year, should be submitted for review at the Spring Executive Board meeting. These plans should incorporate the priorities the Board has set for implementation of the Strategic Directions.

The Committee may advise the Finance and Budget Committee on the appropriateness of budget requests in relation to the Strategic Directions.

The Committee shall request and receive the action plans of Association Committees and report them to the Executive Board.

The Committee shall also communicate as needed with Association committee chairs and other leadership regarding their role in the implementation of the Strategic Directions, and identify appropriate persons or entities to investigate the feasibility of long-term projects.

Board Governance Committee [established November, 1997 as an Ad Hoc Executive Board Committee; approved as a Standing Committee July 10, 1998; as of July, 2005, this is currently not an active committee]

As formally approved, the Committee has the following charge:

"The Executive Board Governance Committee oversees and makes recommendations to the Executive Board on all aspects of how the Executive Board conducts its business. The Committee regularly evaluates the effectiveness of Executive Board meetings, and makes recommendations for improvement.

The Committee reviews, drafts, and codifies policies and procedures that govern the way the Executive Board conducts its business, including its relations with the Executive Staff, with AALL members, and with external constituencies, including chapters.

The Committee reviews, drafts and codifies procedures followed by the Executive Board, including setting the agenda, conducting business, preparing minutes for Executive Board meetings and for the annual Business Meeting, preparing and issuing official AALL statements and official Executive Board actions, describing Executive Board liaison functions and conducting chapter visits. The Committee also codifies procedures for conducting business at the Strategic Planning and Finance and Budget meetings.

The Committee prepares and updates job descriptions for Executive Board officers and members, and it participates in orienting new Executive Board members to Executive Board policies and procedures, and to their role on the Executive Board.

The Committee may recommend for Executive Board approval changes to all Executive Board procedures or policies in relation to all of the above activities." [Minutes, July 10, 1998, p. 2533; Executive Board Book, Tab 8]

Membership on the Committee: As approved by the Executive Board, membership is as follows:

"Appointed by the current President-Elect to serve a one-year term during his or her term as President, the Committee consists of the incoming President-Elect, a first year Executive Board member, and a second year Executive Board member, and the Secretary, who typically chairs the committee." [Minutes, July 10, 1998, p. 2534; Executive Board Book, Tab 8]

The Committee has no set meeting times.

Executive Director Review Committee

The American Association of Law Libraries' Executive Director Evaluation Policy and Schedule was approved November 4, 1994. It has been followed since then, with agreement by Past Presidents and the Executive Director that it is an effective planning and evaluation procedure.

The key to evaluation is having well-defined objectives and responsibilities against which to measure performance. How AALL handles this is described in the Preamble to the Executive Director's 1997-1998 Objectives and Responsibilities document:

"The Executive Director Objectives and Responsibilities is prepared by the Executive Director in consultation and with the advice of the Executive Director Review Committee, chaired by the Immediate Past President, and including the President, the President-Elect, and the Treasurer. In particular, the Executive Director meets personally with the committee chair and the President to formulate plans for the coming year in light of the committee's evaluation of the preceding year. The document is developed in order to:1- describe the relationship between the Executive Board and the Executive Director (Section 1), 2 - indicate the major areas of attention for the coming year, consistent with the priorities established by the Executive Board (Section 2), and 3 - describe the general or ongoing duties and responsibilities of the Executive Director (Section 3).

The Executive Board delegates to the Executive Director Review Committee and in particular to the Past President and the current President, responsibility for reviewing achievements of the past year and for judging the extent to which the Executive Director and staff have been successful in meeting the Executive Board's expectations. By necessity, this is a subjective process and one that requires superb communication among all parties. To be effective it depends on a relationship based on mutual confidence and trust.

Only the Executive Board, when it acts as a body through formal actions taken at its regularly scheduled meetings, has the authority to establish priorities or direct that activities be carried out by the Executive Director."

The steps in this confidential procedure are summarized in the following steps; the timetable is indicated for each:

The Executive Director submits copies of his/her self-evaluation of the prior year to the Executive Director Review Committee, which consists of the Past President (chair), President, Vice-President/President-Elect and Treasurer. (August)

The Committee chair forwards the Executive Director's self-evaluation to the Executive Board and the former members of the Executive Board who left the Board at the annual meeting that year and requests written evaluations of the Executive Director. (September)

The Executive Director Review Committee reviews the written evaluations and prepares a summary. This summary and copies of the individual evaluations are given to the Executive Director prior to a meeting of the chair of the Review Committee, the President and Executive Director. (September/October)

The evaluation is discussed at a meeting held in Chicago. Participants at that meeting are the chair of the Review Committee (the Past President), the President and Executive Director. A tentative draft of goals and objectives is developed for the next contract year. (September/October)

The Committee meets, usually by conference call, to confirm the statement of objectives for the coming year and to consider possible increases in compensation and benefits for the Executive Director in the next contract year. (October)

The Committee prepares a confidential report to the Executive Board. The statement of objectives for the coming year (developed as described above) is mailed to the Executive Board by the Chair of the Committee. The Committee's recommendations on compensation and benefits are prepared, but not discussed with the Executive Director prior to the Fall Board Meeting when the Board meets in Executive Session. (October)

At the Fall Board meeting, the Board goes into Executive Session to discuss the Committee's report and recommendations for compensation and benefits. The Board votes in Executive Session. (October/November)

When the Board reconvenes in open session, the President will report that the Board voted on the recommendations of the Executive Director Review Committee, and that the chair of the Committee and the President will meet as soon as possible to report to the Executive Director on the actions of the Board.

The details of the discussion and the actual agreement remain confidential.